conceal the fact and sometimes try to procure an abortion. If
these efforts are unsuccessful a feast must be given to the caste and
a lock of the woman's hair is cut off by way of punishment. A young
hard-working wife is never divorced, however bad her character may be,
but an old woman is sometimes abandoned for very little cause.

8. Disposal of the dead

The dead may be either buried or burnt; in the former case the corpse
is laid with the feet to the north. Mourning is observed only for
three days and propitiatory offerings are made to the spirits of the
dead. If a man is killed by a tiger his family make a wooden image
of a tiger and worship it.

9. Religion

Devi is the principal deity of the Malis. Weddings are celebrated
before her temple and large numbers of goats are sacrificed to the
favourite goddess at her festival in the month of Magh (January). Many
of the Marars of Balaghat are Kabirpanthis and wear the necklace of
that sect; but they appear none the less to intermarry freely with
their Hindu caste-fellows. [169] After the birth of a child it is
stated that all the members of the sept to which the parents belong
remain impure for five days, and no one will take food or water
from them.

10. Occupation

The Mali combines the callings of a gardener and nurseryman. "In laying
out a flower-garden and in arranging beds," Mr. Shearing remarks, [170]
"the Mali is exceedingly expert. His powers in this respect are hardly
surpassed by gardeners in England. He lacks of course the excellent
botanical knowledge of many English gardeners, and also the peculiar
skill displayed by them in grafting and crossing, and in watching
the habits of plants. Yet in manipulative labour, especially when
superintended by a European, he is, though much slower in execution,
almost if not quite equal to gardeners at home." They are excellent
and very laborious cultivators, and show much skill in intensive
cultivation and the use of water. Malis are the best sugarcane growers
of Betul and their holdings usually pay a higher rental than those of
other castes. "In Balaghat," Mr. Low remarks, [171] "they are great
growers of tobacco and sugarcane, favouring the alluvial land on the
banks of rivers. They mostly irrigate by a _dhekli_ or dipping lift,
from temporary wells or from water-holes in rivers. The pole of the
lift has a weight at one end and a kerosene tin suspended from the
other. Another form of lift is